Severus and Lily: The Glamour Charm
by Ayyio
Summary: Lily Luna Potter, a studious first-year student, has no friends and is lonely. She falls ill because of exam stress, sleep deprivation and skipping meals. She unintentionally lashes out at her Uncle Severus, her only true friend and begins to worry that their friendship might come to an end. My take on Severus' relationship with Lily as a friend and as a professor. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Hello, everybody! Anne here. I've been reading fanfiction here for quite some time now and wanted to write something of my own...so here's my first fanfic.

Some things you should probably know before reading this:

1\. I'm talking about **Lily Luna Potter** not **Lily Potter nee Evans**.

2\. Severus Snape survives the war. (Why did you have to die in the first place? WHYYY?!)

3\. Severus and Lily Luna Potter are good friends and Severus is quite friendly ( well, as friendly as he can be) with the other Potter, Granger-Weasley and Weasley children including Teddy Lupin.

4\. Everything in _italics_ are thoughts.

Thanks to Pritika1106 for all the help.

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING.

* * *

 **Lily**

The bed was warm and soft, yet she felt uncomfortable. Her thick red duvet covered her from ear to toe, yet she felt very cold. Her bed, which was she thought was one of the most comfortable pieces of furniture in Hogwarts, seemed to be incapable of providing its usual comfort that morning.

She tossed and turned in her bed, only partially awake, hoping to find a comfortable spot but failed. Something was wrong. Her head felt unnaturally heavy. She was wrapped up in her very warm duvet but still she felt extremely cold. Something was definitely off and the last thing she wanted to do then was wake up. She wanted to lay on her bed all day without doing a thing. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, still groggy but a little bit more awake and alert then, she caught a glimpse of the clock on her bedside table, 8:50 it read.

In one swift movement, threw the duvet off herself so violently that her pillows got caught in it and were flung across the floor and she stood unsteadily on the cold floor and held the edge of her four-poster bed to regain balance. Then, reality kicked in.

' _Sweet Dumbledore, why the hell did I stay up so late reading Uncle Severus' book last night? Oh, I'm going to be so late to class and I'm going to get detention and …and.._ ' she began thinking.

She had borrowed a book her Uncle Severus, it was one of Severus' most prized possessions as it had been gifted to him by her grandmother, Lily Evans. He had promised to lend it to her soon after her test ended and Severus was a man of his word. Lily began to read it as soon as she got her hands on it. She read in the corridors, she read in between classes she read at dinner in the Great Hall, barely eating anything and also read in her bed with Anti-Disturbance and sound proof wards around it, which she had put up during the tests so that she could study peacefully. Then she finally put the book down when she finished it, which was an hour or two after midnight, which was well past her curfew and not at all a suitable bedtime for an eleven year old and eventually went to bed at 2:15 in the morning.

' _Focus, Lily, focus'_ she berated herself and soon realised she had very little time to get ready, so she ran towards the washrooms and brushed her teeth and washed her face as quickly as possible and then stood in front of the mirror to examine her condition.

She looked horrible. Her face looked very tired, her eyes looked as if they were going to sleep any minute now. She had barely slept the entire week because of staying up very late in the night and studying for her tests. Her tired face was proof of this. She was sure people would ask her questions if she went out looking like this and that would only lead to her ending up in the hospital wing and _that_ was the last thing she wanted.

' _I could go to Victoire's dorm and borrow her make up'_ she thought and she took one look at the clock and immediately removed the idea from her head.

8:57

Having no other option other than casting a Glamour charm, she did so, knowing full well that she find herself in deep trouble if Uncle Severus or any other professor found out, and in one second, it made her look presentable and also to hid her dark circles and her pale, tired face and made her look unusually cheery. Then, she quickly slipped into her uniform and put on her shoes.

9:05

Uncle Severus was going to kill her. He had made himself abundantly clear in their very first Potions class. He did not tolerate late comers. 'Either come on time or don't bother to come at all' he had said. And he had also made it very clear to Lily that she wouldn't get any 'special treatment', as the other students called it, because of their relationship outside Hogwarts, not that Lily had ever expected that to happen.

She was at was only five minutes late to class now, and she obviously couldn't afford to miss it (exams were coming up in a few months and she couldn't miss a very important class now) and even if she did miss class, she was sure she'd get a detention because she had no valid reason to do so and she obviously wouldn't admit that that she was feeling unwell. After all, she was only five minutes late so, he probably would let her in without any hassle.

She then snorted, _'Who am I kidding? This is Professor Snape I'm talking about.'_

Thankfully remembering to grab her Potions essay from her bedside table in the last minute, she stuffed it into her satchel, thereby crumpling it, and began to run towards the dungeons like a dog.

After running, for what seemed like an eternity, she finally reached the classroom.

She could her hear her heart thumping in her ears so loudly, that she felt like it was going to burst. And it was not only because she had overexerted herself. Beads of perspiration formed on her forehead and she lingered around the door for a few more seconds to catch her breath and also to muster some courage.

' _Seems like Doomsday has finally arrived.'_

Finally put her hand on the cold, metal doorknob, shut her eyes tightly, as if afraid that some dangerous unknown beast existed on the other side and with then turned it with the faintest click.

"You are late, Miss Potter", she heard the icy cold of her Uncle Severus, no, Professor Snape, break the usual pin drop silence. His cold tone sent chills down her spine. His face, as usual, was devoid of any emotion. But his onyx eyes gave his emotions away.

They didn't show fury or rage.

No.

They showed disappointment.

* * *

I hope you liked reading this. Please let me know if there are any errors so I can correct them. I would really appreciate it if you could leave a review. I would love to hear your opinions and am open to any suggestions. Thanks for reading it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

Hello, everyone. First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who followed and favourited this story. You don't know how much it means to me.

I am really, really sorry for taking so long to put up this chapter. I promise to upload the next chapter within the next two weeks.

I would also like to thank my betas, Anushka and Abigail, for all the help.

 **I OWN NOTHING.**

* * *

 **Severus**

Silence.

Nobody dared to speak.

Turning up late to Professor Snape's class was simply unheard of. It was a feat even the bravest Gryffindor wouldn't dare to attempt.

The entire class was staring at her, agape.

' _Oh Merlin, this is horrible'_ she thought, not looking away from the floor.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself, Miss Potter?" Professor Snape asked, coldly.

Still silence.

"I believe I asked you a question, Miss Potter. Do you have a note from a professor, perhaps?" Professor Snape asked again.

"No, sir," she replied, not daring to look away from the floor.

Severus abhorred going all 'professor' on Lily. He had, of course, anticipated that a situation like this would rise but he didn't expect it to come so early in the term and he sure as hell wasn't ready for it.

But then again, he couldn't sway from his customary procedure just for Lily because if he did, he would be accused of favouritism, and rightly so. But unfortunately for him, the 'customary procedure' consisted of him being, well, the 'snarky bat of the dungeons' to the excess which included him giving the student in question a through dressing down and taking away oodles of house points.

But…this was Lily.

Every time he saw her, he saw the gurgling one-year old baby who took great pleasure in tugging his hair. He saw a three-year old who liked hiding in his robes. He saw the six-year old, whom he caught in lab, trying to brew a colour changing potion to use on her kindergarten classmates as revenge because they had called her Uncle Severus an 'ugly git' and a 'betrayer'. He saw the little girl who told him that she loved him.

But it had to be done. At Hogwarts he was her Professor, not her Uncle Sev.

"Miss Potter, I must ask: is your memory failing you? Because I remember, very clearly, the instructions I gave you in your very first class. I thought I had made myself absolutely clear when I said that latecomers needn't grace us with their presence, had I not?" he drawled.

"A witch is never late or early, Professor, she arrives precisely when she means to," Lily blurted these words out even before she could understand what she was saying. Her hands immediately towards her mouth and her eyes widened in shock.

The temperature suddenly dropped in the classroom and all the students were staring at her, agape.

' _Oh, bloody hell! I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said. Of all the situations where I could quote Dumbledore, I had to choose this one! Sweet Merlin, what I have I done? Oh God, he's going to give me detention. I'm going to be in detention…with Uncle Severus. He's going to so angry with me. He's going to hate me now'_ Lily thought, shivering slightly. She couldn't tell if it was because of the cold, humid dungeons or because of trepidation. She was just so tired. She just wanted to shut her eyes and go back to sleep in her warm bed but Severus' sharp words brought her back to reality.

"Is that so, Miss Potter? Then be so kind as to inform us, Miss Potter, why _did_ you choose to delay your arrival?" he asked, sharply.

"I…uh…I-I umm I…"

"Do continue, Miss Potter," he urged.

"I-I... I'm really s-sorry, sir," Lily stuttered.

Severus, as usual, remained expressionless. He simply couldn't understand why Lily, of all people, was behaving like this.

' _Merlin! What has gotten into this girl's head?'_ Severus thought and sighed inwardly. But what ever the case maybe, he couldn't bring himself to assign her a detention. He was certain that she was already very distressed, although she didn't look like it and if he did assign detention, she would be weeping all day. And he couldn't bear to be the one to cause her sorrow.

"Fifteen points from Gryffindor. Just sit down, Miss Potter," he said in exasperation and slight irritation. Not once in all his years as a professor had a student dared to speak to him like this. Well, except Potter, of course. And he hoped, for Lily's sake, that this wasn't some idiotic 'dare'. He had heard about those from Minerva. Apparently, they were all the rage these days. The imbecilic dunderheads seemed to take great pleasure in daring other imbecilic dunderheads to do inane tasks. Severus never had patience for such things, even if they were done in good humour.

Anyway, what was done was done. He decided to talk to Lily later to sort things out and to ensure that she wasn't taking it too badly.

' _Merlin, this is strenuous'_

He just hoped that the rest of the class would go smoothly.

Boy, was he wrong.

* * *

I hoped you liked reading this. I'd love to hear your opinions and suggestions so, please leave a review. Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**

 **I'm sorry for not updating as promised but the fault, dear readers, is not mine, but my internet service provider's. We've called them so many times and I think they've blacklisted us. Never mind, it's fixed now. On with the story.**

* * *

Lily just stood there, confused. She heard Severus but her fear addled brain couldn't understand a word he was saying. Her sensory organs were unwilling to work but thankfully, Lily's legs somehow seemed to comprehend Severus's instructions and took her to the very least seat in the classroom, away from most of her classmates.

And then everything happened so quickly.

There she sat, frigid with fear, and then suddenly, all her fear and anxiousness somehow disappeared, just like that… Poof!

Relief filled the hollow it left.

' _No detention, no detention'_ she repeated to herself over and over again, like a mantra, oblivious to what was happening around her.

Then, realisation dawned upon her. _'Uncle Severus is still going to be furious. What if he doesn't want to talk to me anymore? He didn't give me a detention so, he might not be very angry. But what if he was so angry that he didn't want to talk to me anymore so he just stopped? Maybe I should just speak to him. I should probably meet him after class and speak to him and tell him everything…and…and everything will be alright.'_

A mixture of panic, fear and guilt settled in again and she absentmindedly began brewing her potion, glancing at Severus every now and then, trying to assess how angry he was.

She just wanted to get away from this bitterly cold place. Her head felt so heavy and her eyes were drooping. She felt nauseous.

* * *

Severus, of course, saw none of this. To him, Lily looked normal, in fact she looked happier than usual. He knew that his 'bat of the dungeon' persona didn't scare her, but it wouldn't kill her to pretend to be a bit contrite.

Lily's Glamour was working flawlessly.

* * *

And once again, Professor Snape's sharp bark caught her attention.

"Mr Radford! This is the third cauldron you have melted this week. Stop giggling, you imbecile!" He thundered and quickly Vanished what was left of the cauldron and its contents.

The child who was all smiles a few seconds ago, was now whimpering under Severus' stern gaze.

Severus was no longer devoid of expression. Fury and rage was written all over his face. Lily was sure he would emit steam from his ears if he got any angrier. All the students instinctively took a step back, trying to get as far away from the fuming professor as possible without it looking too obvious…for the second time that day.

"What were you doing instead of listening to my instructions, Mr Radford?" he snapped and picked up the notebook from the child's desk. Doodling. The idiot was doodling instead of listening to him. He could have blown himself up for Merlin's sake. His anger doubled instantaneously.

"Get out, Radford. OUT!"

"S-si-ir, I-I'm s-sor-ry" he sniffled.

Lily's mind, once again, wandered away into a world of its own _. 'I probably shouldn't speak to him today. He's already so mad and me telling him all this will only make him madder. I'll wait a few days. I won't have to see him until next Friday anyway. I'll talk to him tomorrow…or maybe the day after. He probably won't be so mad then.'_ She thought, trying very hard to convince herself that postponing this was the right thing to do.

She flinched when the door suddenly closed with a BANG!

"Anyone who wishes to join Mr Radford, may do so now," Professor Snape whispered, menacingly. Only he was capable of doing that, making the students flinch once more.

Not one sound could be heard from the pupils.

"Very well, you may continue," he said, more calmly. Lily assumed that he had occluded. But just because he had occluded, it didn't mean that he was any less angry and Lily most certainly did not want to beome prey to his pent-up anger. So, she would speak to him a few days later…when would have calmed down a bit.

A few more moments passed. The only sounds that could be heard were being emitted from the bubbling cauldrons. Lily's potion which was supposed to be thick and purple at the final stage was runny and lilac. It was passable but it was also her most horribly brewed potion thus far. Uncle Severus wouldn't approve. But it didn't matter to her anymore. She simply wanted to get away from the freezing dungeons to someplace warm. She waved her wand over the cauldron and its contents were transferred to a vial. She then sat down on the three-legged stool to catch a breath. She shut her eyes tightly and scrunched up her face in an attempt to make her monstrous headache disappear.

"Hand in your potions and last week's assignment," Professor Snape said, still eerily calm.

One by one, each student went to his desk and did exactly as he said and returned back to their seats obediently, for they knew that he wouldn't dismiss them until he checked their assignments to ensure that they had written their names and other such details which some non-compos mentis First Year students tended to do.

Severus quickly scanned each assignment and the very last paper -Lily's paper- caught his attention.

"Miss Potter"

Lily's head shot up. For a brief moment, his onyx eyes met her emerald ones but she looked away quickly.

"Miss Potter, now I am almost certain that your memory is failing you," he paused for a second "Which subject so I teach you, Miss Potter?" he asked, snidely.

"Sir?" she asked utterly confused. She had handed over her potion and her assignment, which she had remembered to grab in the last minute. So, what was the problem now.

"I asked which subject I teach you, Miss Potter. Is there a problem with your hearing too?"

"Potions, sir" Lily replied, timidly.

"Then do tell me, Miss Potter, since you seem to be so knowledgeable, what is your potions professor supposed to do with your incomplete Transfiguration assignment?" He didn't even bother to give Lily an opportunity to reply.

"Detention, Miss Potter. Six o'clock sharp. I hope, for your sake, you _choose_ to arrive on time. Else the consequences will be much more unpleasant. Dismissed"

Lily ran and ran and ran with tears streaming down her cheeks. She stopped when she reached her dorm. She flung herself on to her bed and cried her pillow wet.

Fate awaited her. She felt like a criminal waiting to be executed.

* * *

Thanks for reading it! I'd love to hear your opinions so please leave a review.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello, everyone! I apologise for the late update. I just didn't have the time with all the projects, MUNing and exams. I'd like to thank everyone who added this story to your Favourite/Follow list or commented. It really means a lot to me.

Prithathepretzel and ashmedai thanks for the motivation.

* * *

The news of Lily's heroics spread through Hogwarts like wildfire. She became especially popular among the lower years as this was the first time they had seen something like this. The upper years however remained indifferent. They had seen such things happen many times and knew very well that this would not end well for Lily, but that did not stop them from talking about it all day. This was _Lily Potter_ , after all. During lunch at the Great Hall, Lily was the subject of most conversations. Had this been any other pupil, no one would have gossiped as much, but unfortunately for Lily, she was the daughter of the infamous Harry Potter.

* * *

The sun was shining high in the sky that afternoon. While all the students were gorging on their lunches, Lily had drifted into an uneasy sleep in her dorm. A strip of sunlight came in through the window and fell right across her face, seeping into her pale skin and making her uncomfortable. Her stomach grumbled loudly. Using every last bit of her energy, she sat up. She rubbed her eyes and squinted in an attempt to adjust her eyes to the bright room. Her body was covered in a thin layer of sweat that made her skin shimmer in the sunlight. Feeling hot and sticky, she threw her duvet off herself.

She still felt weary and uncomfortable. Her head hadn't gotten any better. It so heavy that it was like she was carrying a pile of rocks on her head. Her stomach growled once again in protest at the lack of food. She couldn't ignore it anymore. Although she felt hungry, the thought of food made her more nauseous than she already was and she most certainly didn't want to go to the Great Hall and have more people gawk at her as if she were a caged animal at the zoo and talk about her in hushed tones and point fingers at her when they thought she wasn't looking. It was bad enough when they stared at her every day for no reason but now they actually had a reason to do so. She sighed. Why are people so horrible?

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Despite sleeping for a while, she didn't feel less sleepy. When she opened her eyes again, the chocolate frog boxes shining under the sunlight caught her attention. They were longingly staring at her, just waiting to be eaten.

' _A chocolate frog won't hurt. I am hungry, after all. Just one chocolate frog'_ she decided.

Three chocolate frogs later, she felt much better. She felt a surge of energy pass through her body. Her headache was now bearable. She looked at the clock. It read 12:30. She had no more classes because her Aunt Minerva had left for some meeting, so she decided to rest for some more time. She propped up her pillows and leaned against them, closing her eyes and trying not to think about any of that day's events. It was then that she began to hear swooshing sounds and muffled voices outside her curtain enclosed bed.

' _Must be Meredith and Lisa fighting again.'_ she thought and ignored the faint sounds, glad that her noise cancelling charms blocked out the all yelling she was sure was taking place outside.

' _What kind of people fight with friends? People should be glad that they have someone to hang out with all the time. It must be fun. Obviously better than being alone.'_

It had been a month since school had begun and Lily still didn't have any friends. Many people approached her in the first few weeks saying they wanted to be friends. She had been so happy, but then she realised that they only wanted to be her friends to have all their queries about the great Harry Potter answered and to boast about being friends with his daughter.

"Lily, what is your dad like?"

"Does he really prefer the rotten egg flavoured Bertie Bott's to the soap flavoured one? I was so sure it was the other way 'round."

"I heard he imports all his ties from Norway and cufflinks from Sweden, but Kenny said it was Denmark and Luxembourg. I bet two licorice wands on Norway and Sweden, please tell me that's true"

The questions were endless and got more absurd day by day. She had gotten sick of it. So, she decided to keep to herself and had spent all her free time in the library and sometimes in Severus' personal quarters. He was her only true friend but she was no longer sure about that.

She was on the verge of falling asleep when the volume of the muffled sounds increased and her bed began rattling.

' _Is this an earthquake?'_ she thought, sitting up hastily and gracefully waved her wand to unStick her curtains. Then the yelling began.

"- ST COME OUT NOW! IF YOU DON'T I'M GOING TO MAKE MANY, MANY DOG EARS IN YOUR BOOK," Lily heard her cousin Rose yell. At least it wasn't an earthquake. On second thought, she would have preferred the earthquake. She would choose it any day over Uncle Severus' wrath.

"What is it Rose?" Lily asked. All the yelling had made her headache worse.

"SHE'S HERE, JAMES. SHE'S OKAY." Rose yelled towards the door.

"Are you sure?"

"YES! I'M LOOKING AT HER, AREN'T I?"

"FINE, FINE! Don't get so angry."

"ROSE SAYS SHE'S OKAY, ALBUS," James yelled.

"What? I can't hear you!" yelled Albus, who was standing outside the common room.

"SHE'S IN HER DORM. SHE'S FINE!" James repeated.

"For God's sake, stop shouting," Lily groaned.

"STOP SHOUTING, JAMES!" Rose reiterated.

"I'M NOT SHOUTING," said James, hotly.

"What?" asked a confused Albus.

"STOP IT!" Lily yelled, unable to take it anymore.

"What do you want, Rose?" Lily asked again.

"What on earth are you doing here? We were looking for you everywhere. You didn't even turn up for lunch" Rose questioned, sharply. "I heard about what happened in Potions. Are you okay?" she added in a concerned tone.

"Look at me. I'm fine. It's not like I'm crying or anything. Pfft! It's just a stupid detention." She said, glad that her Glamour was concealing her tear stained face.

"It's not nothing, Lily. You know he doesn't like it if you late go to class."

"I know, I know. I overslept and it's not like I can do anything about it now. I'll just apologise and everything will be fine," she said. _'At least I hope it'll all be fine'_

"Good. You'll be fine, don't worry too much."

"Mmhm," was all Lily had the energy to say.

"James and Albus look much more worried than you. Just tell them you're fine yourself or else they'll make me check on you every five minutes."

"Ugh! Fine," Lily replied, very annoyed.

After ten minutes of convincing her brothers and yelling at them for treating her like a baby, a very frustrated Lily returned to her dorm. She half-heartedly began her Transfiguration assignment but her head was all fuzzy and she couldn't concentrate.

Fatigued, the only thing she wanted to do was sleep. So, set two muggle alarm clocks and two magical ones to 5:30 and she decided she would get up on time, then go meet Professor Snape, repeatedly apologise until he forgave her. After all this, everything would be fine and she wouldn't have lost her friend.

Or so she hoped.

She crashed into her bed and was snoring within seconds.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. Is the story progressing too slowly? Thank you so much for reading it!


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I apologise for the delay. I won't bore you with excuses. Thank you all for your reviews. I hope you like this chapter.

* * *

After a very long day, an exhausted Severus Snape returned to his quarters. He detested teaching the after examinations. One would think some knowledge would have seeped into the students' dense brains after studying for the exams, but apparently that was not the case. The dunderheads had melted three perfectly good cauldrons in just five hours. He ran his fingers through his hair in irritation. A finger or two of firewhiskey would surely do him some good.

And to add to this mess, there was the whole ordeal concerning Lily. First, she hadn't turned up, making Severus worried sick and then she did arrive, she had been late and had acted out in class, leaving Severus very confused. But the tearful look she had given him before running out of class had made him feel so horrible about himself and the fact that he was the one responsible for causing her to shed tears filled him with guilt.

Sighing, he poured himself a finger of firewhiskey as he let his mind wander. Was it something _he_ had done that had irked Lily? Or perhaps it was something he had neglected to do… Whatever the case, he was not sure how their meeting would go. In spite of being Severus Snape, the cold, heartless dungeon bat, he had come to care for Potter Jr's spawns. Initially, Potter insisted that he joined them for Christmas and so on, and after James was born he found himself visiting the Potters and them visiting him for no apparent reason. The frequency of these visits only increased after the birth of Albus and Lily.

It was strange, really, how he had gone from despising Potter while secretly protecting him to spending hours on end trying to pick out gifts for him and his family. How did that happen? He hadn't even expected to survive the war. And all of a sudden he had gone from mysterious Uncle Severus to a mean, greasy git of a Potion Master. He downed the remainder of the firewhiskey with a sigh.

Then an idea struck him. Butterbeer.

Although it sounded half-witted, it was the perfect peace offering when it came to the Potter children, and it also doubled as a bribe. It had worked in the past, like when he had promised to visit them and couldn't. A few bottles of butterbeer, and his misdemeanours would be forgiven. Perhaps, things would go smoothly with the saccharine beverage that she seemed to love, but then again, she was no longer a toddler. A small voice at the back of his head wondered why he was concerning himself with just another detention. Even though he would never admit it, this role conflict bothered him.

.^.^.^.^.^.^.

At exactly 5:30pm, four alarms blared in Lily's dorm as she awoke, startled. _'If only they been as faithful this morning.'_ The sudden movement of sitting up was not agreeable to her headache, which she realised had not subsided in the least. Lily untangled herself from her duvet forced herself off her bed, and as each inch of her skin was stripped of the warmth of her duvet, it protested with goosebumps. And with each step she took towards the bog she felt worse. It was as if her discomfort from earlier had intensified. Yet, she somehow managed to drag herself to the Great Hall for dinner and plopped down beside Rose. She had decided to show her face to her cousins and siblings so that they wouldn't bother her with inane questions if they saw for themselves that she was alright. Thank Merlin for the glamour charm!

As she sat at the table picking at some food Rose had piled up on her plate trying to ignore the nausea, her belief that she could fix everything with Severus was slowly beginning to fade. Sure, she had witnessed him berate many, many people, and she was no stranger to his wrath, but it had never been directed _at_ her. Some amount of apprehension was not unwarranted, she decided, but by the time she reached the professor's office she was shaking in her shoes.

Lily did not know how long she stood outside the door. Was it five minutes? Fifteen? ' _Ugh, I wish I could make everyone forget all this happened,'_ she thought, not admitting to herself how afraid she was of losing Severus's friendship. He was just a friend, who for some reason seemed to enjoy her company, but he was not obligated to continue to be her friend after all this. It was not like when she argued with her parents or siblings. Unlike them, Uncle Sev didn't have to stick around if she bothered him. The sudden swinging open of the door brought her out of her musings, and a red faced boy scurried out of the office. Unfortunately for Lily, Severus had caught sight of her.

"Come in, Miss Potter," he drawled, giving goosebumps to an unsuspecting Lily.

She awkwardly stumbled into the office as the door shut firmly behind her. ' _Oh God, I'm not ready for this.'_ She did not dare to meet Professor Snape's eyes, but stole a quick glance at a boy across the room scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment.

' _Maybe that's what he'll make me do'_

Alas, she had no such luck. "Miss Potter, if you will proceed to the lab, I have left instructions for you there," she heard Severus say and and quickly crept into the lab silently, with a curt nod.

Lily's heart was beating in her ears. Upon entering the lab, she felt like she was standing in the middle of Antarctica with no clothes on. Shuddering with every breath she drew, she picked up the note Professor Snape had left on the counter and proceeded to read it.

 _Lily,_

 _There is a box of vials in the cupboard._

 _Fill them up with Dreamless Sleep from the cauldron._

 _Wait for me in my quarters when you are finished, I will join you shortly._

 _Severus_

'' _Lily'. He called me Lily. Maybe he isn't livid. Maybe-'_ A sudden bout of dizziness interrupted her thoughts. She grabbed the edge of the freezing granite counter to steady herself, flinching at the cold touch. Snapping her eyes shut, she took a deep breath. She was tired as hell even though she had spent most of the afternoon dozing, in addition to that her sore throat was taking a turn for the worse because every time she swallowed the irritation increased. With every passing moment, she felt more fatigued.

' _I can do this. I'm fine, I'm not sick, I don't have to go to the infirmary. I am fine, not drinking nasty potions...just have to bottle them up..that's quite simple...I can do this,'_ was the mantra she chanted in her head as she set about completing the task.

As soon as she was finished, she slumped into the nearest stool, thoroughly exhausted by such a simple task. Now she just had to compose herself, walk through that door, apologise to Uncle Sev and everything would be fine.

Or so she hoped.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading this. If you have the time, please leave a review.


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